Process of forming cakes from coffee.



F. L. SAVAGEAU.

PROCESS OF FORMING CAKES FROM COFFEE.

APPLICATION FILED APR.21.1916.

WITNESSES: V EN TOR.

36 1 I VAGiAu Patenfed Jan. 2, 1917.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Fnnonnrox L. SAVA- GEAU, a citizen of the United States, residing at Denver, in the county of Denver and State of Colorado, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Processes of Forming Cakes from Coffee, of which the following 1s a specification.

This inventlon relates to a method of producing cakes of ground cofiee, and its prin-' cipal object is to provide a simple method of concreting cofi'ee into solid cakes or briquets which may be kept foran indefinite period, which remain intact; irrespective of climatic influences, which provide measured quantities of cofl'ee in convenient and greatly condensed form, thereby saving .in cost of packing and transportation, which are free.

from foreign substances, which may be handled without breaking-or chipping, which will preserve without loss the original flavor of the coffee for an unlimited period, and

which owing to their density will not-be subject to the influence of dampness or foreign odors.

I am aware thatbriquets of the character above referred to have been produced heretofore by different methods, but I know of no method by which these cakes have been made to successfully combine all the above enumerated qualities.

- The first essential step in my improved w method of producing cakes of ground coffee is the roasting-process to which the cofiee is subjected until its agglutinative constituents have been liberated without their appearing on'the surface of the beans.

The object of roasting the coffee to this I degree, is to utilize the agglutinantsof the cofiee for effecting a permanent adhesion of the finely divided solidmatter of which 7 thecakes are composed. If these substances were brought to the surface of the beans as occurs by roasting them beyond the specified degree-they would solidify and evaporate and thus become inadequate for the purposeof combining the ground coffee into a solid mass.

It will thus-be seen that it is of the greatest importance that the beans are roasted to thedegree hereinbefore described.

In connection with the above it should be understood that the degree at which the cofi'ee is roasted is varied somewhat in accordance w1th the pressure to which 1t 1s v:cx L; savasanu, orcnnnv na, cone srrcn com, a 00 n w 0E Hinge c r Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed April a1, 1916.

GNOR TO THE Patented Jan. 2, rear.

naaavaa. f

subsequently subjected in "forming the briquetsit being obvious that owingto the expansion of the softened beans as the roast pro the degree of pressure required for'forming them into briquets of the desired density, is proportionate in inverse. ratio to the lightness of the roast.

r the beans have been roasted, they are ground and screened, preferably by what is known in the art as the steel-cut f proces, and while being screened and sized, the chef is removed from-the ground prodnot by suction oiother suitable means. This removal of the chaff and pulverized codes is another important feature in the process of producing the cakes, inasmuch as its presence not only renders the cakes morebrittle,

but by its bulk prevents the concretion of a determinate quantity of coffee into a cake of.

predetermined proportions.

Before the ground and Sized coffee from nrnnnnncn which the chaff has been removed, is pressed into cakes, it is first heated in order to increase the adhesive properties of its agglutinative constituents after which a measured quantity is subjected to an action for the expulsion of air and then subjected to a p of over two thousand pounds per square inch whereby its volume is reduced about seven. and one-half per cent;

- The actions for removing the air. from the coffee and for concreting the same into a cake of the desired proportions, take place while a measured quantity of coffee. is confined in a mold of suitable form and construction.

Prior to the actions to which the cofl'ee.

is subj while in the mold, a viscid sub-' stance such as liquid burned sugar, is applied to the parts-with which the co-fl'ee comes in contact, for the purpose of covering its surfaces with a coating which excludes air from the interior of the cakes and serves to prevent breaking and chipping.

'After the cefiee has been compressed into '"a cake of the required dimensions, it is released 'froin lateral pressure for the purpose of preventing its'adhesion to the parts of the mold, and consequent chipping while it is being removed from the press.

The elimination ofair from the measured quantity of ground coffee is preferably efiected by subjecting the said quantity after it has been disposed in the mold in which it is subsequently compressed, to a slight 11o preliminary pressure which brings its particles into juxtaposition without compression and thereby forces the air from between the'same,

The protective coating may be applied to the cake by supplying the surfacesof the parts of the press with which the cakes come in contact, with a layer of liquid-burned sugar or other viscid substance, and the cake may be relieved from lateral pressure while being discharged from the mold by tapering the sides of the latter. I desire it understood, however, that other means for accomplishing these results may be resorted to within the spirit of myinvention and that my improved method for concreting coffee into cakes, is independent of any specific mechanical apparatus.

In the accompanying drawings in the various views of which like parts are similarly designated, Figure 1 represents a sectional view of a mold filled with a'quantity of coffee roasted, ground, screened and cleaned in accordance with my'method, Fig. 2, shows a mold with the same quantity of a coffee after it has been subjected to a preliminary pressure for the elimination of air, Fig. 3, shows the mold after the cake has been formed therein by compression of the coffee, and Fig. 4, illustrates the method of removing the cake from the mold while relieving it from lateral pressure.

The reference character 2 designates a mold the sides of which slant outwardly for the purpose of relieving the cakes from pres-- sure while they are being removed, and 3 designates the surface upon which the cofiee is supported while it is subjected to pressure.

The numeral 4 designates the plunger which subjects the coffee tea preliminary pressure for the expulsion of air, 5 a plunger by which the coffee is reduced in volume more than fifty per cent., and 6 the plunger by which the cake 7 is removed from the mold.

It should be understood that while it is very desirable to coat the cakes for hardening their surfaces, this step of myp'rocess may be omitted under certain conditions, especially whenthe cakes are to be sold for immediate use. I

Having thus described my invention, what -I claim and desire to secure by Letters-Patent is:

'ing coffee into cakes consisting in roasting coffee-beans to a degree suflicient to liberate their agglutinative constituents 'without exposing the same on the surface of the beans,

grinding and sizing the coffee beans and reing cofl'ee into cakes consisting in roasting coffee-beans to a degree sufiicient to liberate moving the chaff from the ground product,

. then heating the ground coffee, expelling air from a measured quantity of the ound coifee, subjecting the said quantity o cofiee 'fifty per cent. and formin to a pressure for reducing its volume over fifty per cent. and forming it into cakes, hardening the surface of the cake by the application of a protective coating, and finally co ee-beans to a degree sufiicient to liberate their agglutinative constituents without exposing the same on the surface of the beans,

grinding and sizing the-coffee beans and removing the chaif from the ground product, heating the. ground cofiee, expelling air from a measured quantity of the ground.

coffee, subjecting the said quantity of coffee to a pressure for reducing its volume over it into cakes, and hardening the surface 0 the cake by the application of a protective coating.

3. The herein described process of form-- ing'coifee into cakes consisting in roasting 'cofi'ee-beans to a degree sufiicient to liberate their agglutinative constituents without exposing the same: on the surface of the beans, heating the roasted cofifee, expelling air from a measured quantity of the roasted coifee, and subjectinfg the said quantity of coffee to a pressure or reducingits volume over fifty per cent. and forming 1t into cakes.

4..The herein described process of forming coffee into cakes consisting in roasting coffee-beans to a degree suflicient to liberate their agglutinative constituents without exposing the same on the surface of the beans expelling air from a measured quantity of.

the roasted coffee and finally subjecting the said quantity of coffee to a pressure for reducing its volume over fifty per cent. and forming it into cakes.

5. The herein described process of forming coffee into cakes consisting in roasting coffee-beans to a degree suflicient to liberate their agglutinative constituentswithout exposing the sameon the surface of the beans,

and subjecting; a quantity of the roasted coffee to a pressure for reducing its volume over fifty per cent. and forming it into cakes.

6. The herein described process of forming cofi'ee into cakes consisting in roasting coffee-beans to a degree suflicient to liberate their agglutinative constituents without exposing the same on the surface of the beans,

. grind1ng and sizing the coffee beans, and 1. The herein described process of formremovingthe chaff from the ground product, and subjecting a quantity of the ground coflfee to a pressure for reducin its volume over fifty per cent. and forming it into cakes.

7 The herein described process of formtheir agglutinative constituents without exto a pressure for reducing its volume over fifty per cent. and forming it into cakes, and hardening the surface of the cake by the application of a protective coating.

8. The herein described process of forming coffee into cakes consisting in roasting coffee-beans to a degree sufficient to liberate their agglutinative constituents without exposing the same on the surface of the beans, subjecting a quantity of the roasted coffee to a pressure for reducing its volume over fifty per cent. and forming it into cakes, and relieving the cake ,from lateral pressure for its removal from the parts with which it was in contact while subjected to pressure.

9. The herein described process of forming coffee into cakes consisting in roasting coffee-beans to a degree sufficient to liberate their agglutinative constituents without exposing the same on the surface of the beans, and subjecting a quantit of the roasted cofl'ee to a pressure for re ucing its volume and forming it into cakes.

In testimony whereof I have aifixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

FREDERICK L. SAVAGEAU.

Witnesses I G. J. RoLLANDE'r, L. RHoADEs. 

